Discrimination and Mexican-Origin Adolescents’ Adjustment: The Moderating Roles of Adolescents’, Mothers’, and Fathers’ Cultural Orientations and Values

Drawing on García Coll et al.’s integrative framework and the risk and resilience model, this study examined the relationships between adolescents’ perceived discrimination and psychosocial adjustment and the moderating roles of adolescents’, mothers’, and fathers’ cultural orientations and values, and adolescent gender in a sample of 246 Mexican-origin families. Using multilevel modeling with data from mothers, fathers, seventh graders (M _age = 12.8 years; SD = .57 year) and older siblings (M _age = 15.7 years; SD = 1.5 years), findings revealed that perceived discrimination was positively related to depression, risky behaviors, and deviant peer affiliations. In addition, parents’ cultural orientations and values and adolescent gender moderated the relationships between perceived discrimination and some indicators of adjustment. These findings suggest that parents’ cultural orientations and values can serve as protective and vulnerability factors in the associations between Mexican-origin adolescents’ perceived discrimination and their psychosocial adjustment.     

Attitudes toward police response to domestic violence: a comparison of Chinese and American college students

Domestic violence has emerged as a worldwide concern since the 1970s. Although a substantial amount of efforts have been devoted to assessing various aspects of domestic violence, a relatively small number of studies have empirically examined factors that shape public attitudes toward police response to such incidents. Even rarer is investigating the topic from an international, comparative perspective. Based on survey data gathered from approximately 550 college students in China and the United States, this study analyzes the effects of background characteristics, personal and vicarious experiences of crime, and perceptions of gender roles and violence on attitudes toward proactive and traditional police response to domestic violence. Compared to their American counterparts, Chinese students were less likely to favor proactive response and more likely to support traditional response. Chinese and American students' attitudes toward police response to domestic violence were shaped by some different and common factors. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.     

Power,Transparency and Control: Hong Kong People’s Adaptations to Life

This paper attempts to examine how the concepts of power, transparency and control are perceived in the life of ordinary Hong Kong people, and how the latter have been adapting to their perceptions and evaluations. The 2008 global financial tsunami and its aftermath will likely have a serious impact on their values. Hong Kong people’s experiences may in some ways represent those of modern men, especially those in East Asia. Democracy is premised on the ideal that life is meaningful through political participation. For most Hong Kong people, this is too demanding an ideal and they instead opt for economic power at the micro-level to secure an optimal measure of control over the socio-economic aspects of their own life. But even this objective has proven extremely difficult to fulfil because of the asymmetry in power between the individual on one hand, and authoritarian regimes, big businesses, organized interest groups, etc. on the other. Very often exit is not a viable option. There may be a tendency to seek satisfaction from religious pursuits, voluntary work, or other external agencies.     

A multi-site, randomized study of strengths-based case management with substance-abusing parolees

Objectives  

To test whether strengths-based case management provided during an inmate’s transition from incarceration to the community increases participation in community substance abuse treatment, enhances access to needed social services, and improves drug use, crime, and HIV risk outcomes.     

Free Fatty Acids Composition in Adipocere of the Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchí Ancient Remains Found in a Glacier*

Abstract: Adipocere is a postmortem decomposition product consisting of mostly a mixture of free fatty acids (FFAs) that are formed because of the hydrolysis of triglycerides in adipose tissues. This article describes a simple and robust method for the extraction, identification, and quantification of FFA commonly found in adipocere using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS). This method was applied to analyze tissues from Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchí, ancient remains discovered in a retreating glacier in the Tatshenshini‐Alsek Park, British Columbia, Canada in August 1999. The lyophilized tissues were grinded and extracted with hexane. The trimethylsilyl fatty acid derivatives were analyzed by GC/MS, and the relative abundances of myristic acid, palmitic acid, oleic acid, and stearic acid were determined. Milligram per gram levels of saturated fatty acids were found in the tissues of the ancient remains, while the levels of unsaturated fatty acids, such as palmitoleic acid, were found to be negligible. The results provided further evidence of the existence of adipocere found during forensic examination of the Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchí ancient remains.     

An Assessment of the Utility of Universal and Specific Genetic Markers for Opium Poppy Identification

Abstract: The proper identification of illicit plants such as Papaver somniferum L (opium poppy) is important for law enforcement agencies. The identification of opium poppy was presently tested using 10 genetic markers that are universal for all plants or specific to a few poppy plants. The genetic distances of universal markers such as nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS), 18S rRNA, plastid rbcL, and trnL‐trnF intergenic spacer (IGS) of 14 species included in the Papaveraceae and Fumariaceae family were acquired by sequence comparisons. Both the ITS region and trnL‐trnF IGS showed high levels of interspecific divergence. Six Papaver genera‐specific markers were developed from coding regions involved in morphine biosynthesis. Three markers (TYDC, NCS, and BBE) produced amplicons only in opium poppy, providing a presence/absence test for opium poppy, while three additional markers (CYP80B1, SAT, and COR) were genus specific. These 10 markers might be useful for the forensic DNA analysis of opium poppy.     

Where juvenile serious offenders live: A neighborhood analysis of Wayne County, Michigan

This study investigated the relationship between neighborhood factors and juvenile serious offenders in Wayne County, Michigan. Wayne County is home to Detroit, a city with a glorious past but a bleak future. Administrative data were linked to tract-level census characteristics that proxy for social disorganization structural factors. Results by negative binomial regressions found significant associations in the expected direction with concentrated disadvantage, concentrated affluence, and inequality. Concentrated immigration, however, was insignificantly related to juvenile serious offending, and residential stability increased rather than decreased offending. These counter-theoretical results might be due to the presence of homes inhabited by students and young professionals and the vibrant Latino immigrant communities. The stark contrasts this analysis documented, combined with the high correlation of economic conditions to juvenile crime, demand urgent and radical responses to completely transform impoverished neighborhoods in Wayne County.     

Who is better for handling domestic violence? A comparison between Taiwanese female and male Officers

This study examined Taiwanese female and male police officers’ perceptions of handling domestic violence. Specifically, it assessed officers’ attitudes toward whether female officers, male officers, or a combination of female and male officers are more suited for handling cases of battered women, offenders, and domestic violence overall. Survey data were collected from 96 female and 156 male officers from two police departments in Taiwan. Frequency distributions showed that a combination of male and female officers were most preferred by officers for handling abused women, offenders, and domestic violence overall. Regression analysis found that female officers were significantly more likely than male officers to favor a combination of male and female officers over female officers alone for handling battered women. Female officers were found to be more likely than male officers to favor male over female officers and a combination of male and female officers for handling offenders. Police supervisors’ attitudes toward domestic violence also influenced officers’ attitudes toward who is more suited for handling offenders. Implications for future research and policy are discussed.